Climbing at Joshua Tree

I met my friend Jay in Joshua Tree national park over the Christmas break for some climbing. Climbs: Jumbo Rocks, Conan's Corridor - Fool's Gold (5.8R, TR) Intersection Rock of Hidden Valley - Some easy handcracks and chimney's Indian Cove - Feudal Wall Court Jester (5.7, Trad led) Duchess Right (5.7, offwidth, TR) Duchess (5.6, TR)

Jay midway up the elusive off-width.

Jay and I met up at the north entrance to the park. We set off just after sunset to look for camping -- all full until we rolled up into Jumbo Rocks, pretty deep into the park. We found a spot, dropped off my car and then drove back into the town for some Crossroads! I threw down a giant, dripping cheeseburger and some iced tea, assuming it would be my last decent meal of the trip. We drove back to the campsite, forgetting firewood. We weren't worried, since, but found a more important task -- scoping routes.

We wandered across the street from the campground to look for routes in the Jumbo rocks area. Our route of interest is located in a narrow slot canyon. We wandered up and over every possible pile of rocks searching for this thing in the dark. After about an hour and a half of re-reading the approach beta and mistaking shadows for features of interest, we finally spotted the narrow slot canyon from afar. Another 20 minutes of bushwacking and we finally squeezed into the narrows that led to the climbing routes, known as Conan's Corridor. We retreated back to the campsite, had a beer and retired for the night.

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